


In the Middle

by MrsKogane



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU-Rival Gangs, Allura Hunk and Lance all take karate, Altea is a city, F/M, Gay!Keith is a lowkey romantic, Lance has no sense of direction, Lance is so bi, M/M, Voltron vs Galra, probs his fault they get involved
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-03-31
Packaged: 2018-09-17 15:27:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9331484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrsKogane/pseuds/MrsKogane
Summary: Lance wants Japanese food from downtown, but has no idea how to get there. Dragging along Hunk and Allura, they get lost and end up in the middle of what seems to be a fight between the local gangs of Altea. Long story short, they end up as leverage for the bad guys.Now not only does Shiro and Keith have to attempt to stop the enemy gang, but also have to take care of three "kids" to make sure Zarkon doesn't kill them.(I'm bad at descriptions, it may be worth the read but don't hold your breath)





	1. Good Job Lance

There was something very calming about beating the crap out of a fellow comrade. Flipping the first grade brown belt over his shoulder, gaining his fifth point, Lance wins. “Match, McClain.” The referee says, each opponent bows and heads off the mat. 

Lance was very used to winning matches in his dojo, being one of the few with a second grade brown belt and nearing completion in training for his black belt. He’d been slacking in school recently to train more, if his instructor knew, he’d have Lance’s ass. Iverson’s first rule was to maintain a good education. “Education, then karate, no exceptions.” 

“Lance!” A shrill voice said in his ear, weight crashed into his back, taking him down to the floor. “You did great! You’re so close to the black belt!” He chuckled as Allura hugged him tightly. She herself was already a black belt, dedicating nearly all her time to the sport  _ and  _ keeping up with her studies. It was incredible what the girl could manage.

“Yea, well, as soon as I get it, I’m challenging you to a match.” he met the silver haired girl through karate when they were only seven years old. She’d always been more agile and determined, so it wasn’t odd to either of them that she received the black belt first.

“Lance, I don’t really think that’s a good idea, especially considering Allura’s waaay better at karate than you.” Hunk’s pessimistic voice responded from the front of them. Lance looked up, pushing Allura off his back and getting up.

“Gee, thanks buddy.” He said sarcastically while glaring at the big guy. Lance knew Hunk two years prior to meeting Allura. They became friends after Hunk was found worrying in the garden at the school them went to. He’d been left behind by his class and couldn’t get in, thankfully Lance decided to stay out longer and found him there, helping him back inside. Then Hunk proceeded to eat Lance’s packed lunch and boom! Best friends ever since.

“Well, you have to admit, she’s a bit better than you.” Hunk shrugged as he threw Lance his things and the three left the dojo.

“You’re probably right,” Lance hiked the bag over his shoulder after throwing on his jacket. A sudden, low gurgling sound from Lance's left startled him, causing him to jump. “What the hell Allura? When was the last time you ate?” 

The silver haired girl grinned. “A couple hours ago, but hey, flipping people over your shoulder for hours tends to make a person hungry.”

“Thank goodness, I was waiting for someone to mention food.” Hunk praised, looking at Allura with a grateful smile. 

“I know this great place downtown,” Lance smirked. “You guys cool with Japanese?”

“That sounds wonderful. I've been craving sushi since my period is coming soon.” Allura said, rubbing her stomach. Both guys grimaced, making vomiting noises.

“T.M.I. Allura. We don't need to know about your monthly would-be-child sacrificing rituals.” Hunk said, holding his hands over his ears. Lance pretended to vomit again.

“That’s sounded worse than the term ‘period’. Thanks Hunk,” Lance groaned as the big guy grinned sheepishly. Lance really needed to get more friends. “Whatever, just follow me.” He began walking without them, the route to the restaurant in mind, well the route he remembered anyway. 

He huffed, he was getting irritated now. They'd passed they same baseball mural painted on _Eddy's Bar_ three times now, how'd he keep ending up back here? huffing once more for dramatics, he took a different alleyway and walked straight. Hopefully, this was the right one. But after two lefts turns and a couple _more_ sketchy alleyways, Lance had the bad feeling he'd gotten lost.

“Geez Lance, are we almost there? It’s been like twenty minutes!” Hunk said as he threw his arms dramatically in the air. Lance halted on the deserted street, spun three times, surveying their options, then walked left.

“I think it’s this way.” He assured, hoping they wouldn’t catch on to him.

“Wait a tick,” Allura stopped, hands on her hips. She didn't look happy. “Lance, are we lost?”

Lance scoffed, obviously offended about the true accusation. “Pfft, of course not. I just took a wrong turn, but it’s fine. I know exactly where we-” A loud  _ bang  _ cut him off, causing the three friends to jump with fright.

“What the hell was that?” Hunk yelled as he hid behind an unamused Allura. Lance walked off without his friends, he knew downtown was a bit unsafe at night. But there hadn’t been any turf wars lately between the two main gangs of this area, so he hadn’t been all that worried. It seems he made a mistake. Rounding the corner, the  _ bang  _ noises that echoed in the alleyways and streets got louder and louder. 

“ _ Lance!”  _ Allura grabbed his wrist and pulled his against the brick wall. “What in the hell are you doing?! We need to get out of here, now!”

With a firm nod, they started to walk back toward Hunk who, like the gentle giant he was, was hiding behind a nearby dumpster. They hadn’t made it a few steps before Lance felt something latch onto his shoulder and jerk him back. He yelled, clutching onto what felt like an arm as it drew him close and whoever had him, drew them into their chest; pressing something cold against his temple.

“Oh! Look what I found!” The voice was deep and calm, but the tone was breathless, exhausted."A civilian and I know you don't harm those. Now let us go, Kogane or I'll put a bullet in his head." 

“Sendak, there’s two more!” Another deep voice said behind them. Lance tried to twist in the man’s grasp as he heard Allura and Hunk yelling. He was oddly silent, too frightened to make a sound.

“Oh, good leverage,” what Lance assumed was a gun, pressed harder into his head. _“Three civilians._ So Shiro, what’s it gonna be?” The man, Sendak, said, Lance could hear the delight in his voice knowing what this Shiro was going to decide. Lance let his eyes wander to the other man. He was tall and muscular, but couldn’t tell much else from the darkness around them. He could, however, see the white tuft of hair hanging on the man’s forehead and the gun pointed at the man behind Lance. 

“They’re witnesses Sendak! Let’s just shoot them!” This came from someone behind Lance, he wasn’t sure this Shiro was able to hear it or not. A sudden wave of terror overtook him and he finally struggled to get out of the man’s grip. You’d think after ten years of karate and having a brown belt, he’d be able to get out of a simple chokehold. When fear was presented in the mix, it was a tad bit harder. 

“Anytime Keith.” Was the only thing Shiro replied with. Grunts and moans of pain sounded behind Sendak and Lance, and a soft melodic voice that told his friends to run. He watched as Allura and Hunk bounded passed him and his captor, breathing a sigh of relief.  _ At least they're safe. _ Lance was suddenly propelled forward and would have landed on his face if it wasn't for his quick reflexes. All he heard was pounding footsteps and someone shouting “fall back!” 

Lance flipped onto his back, breaths ragged and shallow. He stared up at the night sky wondering what the hell he just got them into. 

“You okay?” A hand popped in his line of vision, waiting for him to accept it. He lifted his head, catching the gaze of the single most handsome guy he'd ever seen. He had nice, broad shoulders and a fit body. One from most likely, years of training. His hair black and styled, in what Lance was pretty sure was a mullet. But damn if that guy didn't rock the mullet look. 

Lance took his hand. “Yea, I'm okay.”

“Lance!” For the second time that day, he was tackled to the ground. “Are you alright? I thought you were gonna die!” He groaned, pushing Allura off, but smiling at her gently. 

“I'm fine princess.” She helped him off the ground, still seeming wary. They made their way towards Hunk and this “Shiro” guy, who were talking quietly.

“Thanks so much for what you did. And we're really sorry we got in the middle of...whatever was going on here..”

Shiro smiled, and damn if it didn't accent his already gorgeous face. He was practically flawless; tall, broad,muscular,  _ hot.  _ The only flaw Lance found was the scar running across his face, a straight line from underneath one eye, across his nose, and under the other eye. It was a faded pink, but not so unpleasant you didn't notice how breathtaking he was. If anything it just made him look a little mean. 

“Hunk, right? We're really sorry about this, we hadn't expected an attack so late,” Lance groaned, his voice was even perfect.

“We need to get going.” A stoic Keith said from behind him, surveying the three friends, noticeably looking at Lance longer than the other two. “And as much as I hate to recommend it, we have to take  _ them _ with us.”

Lance froze. “What?” The other froze too, not exactly sure what was going on. 

Shiro sighed, looking at the three apologetically. “He's right, please for your safety, come with us.”

Lance was never one to willing put others, especially the one's he cared about, in danger. “And who exactly are you?”

“Keith and Shiro Kogane. The leaders of The Voltron Group.”


	2. "Incompetent Retard"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I apologize in advance if you take offence to the chapter title, it's not my intention to make anyone angry.*

Keith watched the three unknowns from the rearview mirror of Shiro’s truck. While it was his idea to bring them along, he wasn't very happy about it. He caught the tall one's gaze every so often, noticing the hesitant behavior ever since he found out who they were. Keith clenched his jaw and focused on driving. 

Shiro spun in his seat, I sending friendly smile to the passengers. “I know Hunk, but I don't think I know your names yet.”

The taller one spoke first, “The name's Lance, and this is my sister for all intent and purposes, Allura.” Shiro nodded to each of them, his eyes lingering on Allura a little longer than probably necessary. Keith resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Shiro had always been a victim to pretty faces. 

“It's great to meet you, even under the circumstances. By the way, what were you doing out here?” 

Lance blushed. “I kinda got us lost, we  _ were  _ heading to get Japanese but-”

Keith scoffed. “The closest Japanese restaurant is 20 blocks the  _ other way.  _ You must be an idiot to walk the complete opposite direction.”

“Keith!” Shiro scolded, scowling slightly. 

“Excuse me? Who asked you Mr. Mullet? I've been there once!” Lance didn't take well to being insulted, especially by pretty boys who he could probably take in a hand-to-hand fight.  

“Only a moron would go the complete wrong way. You should at least know the general direction if you at least been there before. So you're only further proving my point.” Keith shrugged, but a slight viciousness slipped into his tone.

Allura spoke up. “In his defence, Lance has always had a horrible sense of direction. We don't really blame him for-”

“You should. Because you guys could have gotten killed tonight. Sendak isn't known to leave witnesses.” He didn't mean to sound eerie, but it was the truth. Shiro knew it too, he didn’t say anything on the subject.

“Look we’re here,” Shiro said, turning back to the front of the vehicle. But only after he shot Keith a look; the same look his father would always send him after he did/said something he shouldn’t have. “Now, you may be here a little while. We’ll make sure you’re comfortable and allow you to call home if you need to, but for the time being you will be here.”

Allura sighed; pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. “My father won’t take too lightly to this. He’s gonna want me home immediately.” As Keith parked he turned in is seat to face the three friends, noticing the sympathetic looks. 

He raised an eyebrow. “Is he strict or something?”

She chuckled humorlessly. “Extremely.” Keith waited for some elaboration, but the girl just glared ahead.

“Okay, let’s go then.”

 

Lance was slightly appalled by the building they were heading into, it looked like an old hotel that was ready for demolition. Vines grew all over it, windows were boarded up, and no light escaped through the small slits between the wood. 

“Are you sure this place is safe? I mean, it kinda looks like the place death would spend Friday nights.” Hunk said, making Lance snort. Leave it to Hunk to complain to the gang that was taking them in.

Keith looked at him, his face neutral, but his eyes gave away his amusement. “Trust me, it looks better inside.” They followed the brothers around the hotel to the back; a small warehouse was sent up in the back and it looked worse than the hotel. At least ninety percent of the windows were broken and the front right door was dented and beat all to hell. Lance didn’t feel safe in the slightest. Against his better judgement, he followed them through the doors into the warehouse. There wasn’t anyone out in plain sight and there wasn’t anything in it either; save for some machinery and a lot of dirt. As they made it further inside, Lance could hear voices on the other side of a small metal door located at the end of the warehouse. Shiro knocked a few times and it slid open, revealing two darkly clad men. Neither of which looked all that menacing or even remotely on guard. Lance feared for his and everyone’s safety under these ‘guards.’

“I could hear you from across the warehouse. Keep it down.” Shiro admonished, his tone plain and unamused. The two men stood and nodded in respect.

“Yes sir!” They said in unison. 

Shiro pushed passed them, Keith and the three friends following behind. “Usually, they take their job more seriously. But I guess it’s been boring lately since we haven’t seen much of Galra.”

Lance snorted once again. “Their name is  _ Galra _ ?” 

“I don’t think the guy named  _ Lance  _ should be talking.” Keith said, sparing a glance at the guy he’d just insulted. 

“Well no one asked the guy with the mullet for his opinion anyway.” Lance retorted, inwardly grinning at the scowl on Keith’s face. 

“It’s not a mullet. It just grows this way.”

“Wow, a natural mullet. Must mean you’re naturally an asshole.” Keith spun to get in Lance’s face, Lance noticed his was slightly taller than mullet head. 

“I’d rather be an asshole by nature than an idiot.” He spat. 

Lance fumed. “You know what-”

“Alright, that’s enough!” Shiro snapped, glaring at both of them. They didn’t look away from each other; their gazes were filled with anger and hatred.

“Well, talk about sexual tension.” Someone snickered from the side. Keith broke the gaze first to look at the newcomer. He managed a half smile that Lance found irritatingly cute.

“What the hell are you spouting now Pidge?” 

Lance turned his gaze to the short person coming up beside them. By the short hair, dorky glasses, and gender neutral clothes he couldn’t tell if this person was a boy or girl.

“Oh, guys this is Pidge, she’s our tech and communications expert. I’ve been looking after her for a year or so now. She’ll be the one to secure your phone lines so you can call your families and such.” Shiro explained, each of them nodding. 

“I have a secured phone line.” Allura said, crossing her arms in irritation. “It’s a precautionary measure.” 

Pidge stared at her a moment before recognition dawned on her face. “Wait a minute, aren’t you Mayor Alfor’s daughter?” All eyes landed on her and she groaned, nodding slowly. “Jesus Christ, Shiro what are you doing toting her around? She’s a pretty big target for Galra.”

Lance stood closer to Allura, resting a hand on her shoulder. “It’s my fault…” 

Pidge looked slightly amused. “Well, I've intercepted some transmissions between formants and learned they've been looking for a way to get some easy money. Kidnapping the mayor's daughter was high on the list. How'd you come into our meager hands princess?” She was taunting now, Allura didn't let it get to her.

After a brief explanation and a lot of teasing from Pidge on Lance’s part, then a lot of Lance attempting to defend himself; Shiro finally had Keith lead the three of them to their temporary rooms. 

Keith hadn’t lied when he said the inside of the hotel was better. Now, it wasn’t any five star hotel, but it was definitely not the scary abandoned place it seemed to be. The carpets in the hallways were red and seemingly clean, save for a few stains here and there. The walls were an off white with two lights, their covers were red glass, on each wall between the doors(they were also red). 

“They’re emergency lights,” Keith said, looking at Lance. “We use a generator here instead of the city’s electric so were harder to find. You don’t see the lights from outside because the windows are covered with tinted glass. So we can see out but you can’t see in.”

Lance just simply nodded, uncertain of what to say. He had been wondering about the windows earlier, but how did Keith know to answer him? Did they save a lot of people from situations like this?

“So, your rooms are at the end of the next hall,” Keith said as they turned right. “Since they’re single rooms, you’ll each have your own, and no they are not close to mine and Shiro’s. But I will show you where to find us later. In the meantime, get some sleep. It’s late and I’m tired as hell. Any other questions can wait until tomorrow.” He started pointing at rooms, showing Hunk his and then Allura’s, which they disappeared behind for the night. The two guys came to the end of the hall and he pointed at the very last door. “And this is yours.”

Lance nodded. “So, do you do this often? I mean, you sound like an overworked and underpaid ride operator.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Well, I did spend a good hour fighting with my rivals and then had to save three helpless people from being killed, which resulted in the bad guys getting away. Also, not to mention the fact the one person seems to get under my skin and make me angrier than I already am. So, I’m kinda just done with today and want to get to bed.”

Lance clasped his hands together and gestured toward the slightly shorter man. “I think we got off to a bad start and I would like to make it up to you. I’m going to take back calling you an asshole, because you did save my life. Your turn.” He grinned, waiting patiently for Keith’s response.

“Fine, I’ll accept that. I take back calling you an incompetent retard.” With that, Keith began to walk away.

Lance furrowed his brows. “But you didn’t…”

Over his shoulder, he yelled; “I was thinking it.” And disappeared behind the corner at the intersection of the hall. Lance couldn’t help the little smirk that pulled up at the corner of his mouth as he disappeared inside his proclaimed room. 

* * *

Keith attempted to quietly sneak passed the tech and comm., room where Shiro and Pidge were talking about the altercation earlier. 

“Keith, come here for a sec,” Shiro called, not even looking in Keith's direction. He sighed and trudged into the room anyway.

“What is it?” He was less than enthusiastic to look at the number filled screen with the other two when he could be sleeping. 

“Pidge found out what the shipment we intercepted was.” Shiro said, a harsh look in his eyes. Keith took a look at the screen then, as Pidge pulled up a file labeled “Galrajerks.”

“It seems that our friends over in Galra Land have been developing a new drug called  _ Juniberry _ . As if we don't have enough already.” Pidge scoffed, pushing her glasses up on her nose. 

“What are its properties?” Keith asked, suddenly more interested.

“It's a sex drug; slowing down the mind while making you horny so the pleasure seems to last forever. It's also known to cause major trips if you take more than one and it shows up clean on a drug test. Like, immediately.” She folded her arms across her chest in confusion. “Like I know there are drugs that don't show up on tests, but it wouldn't even show up on a hair test.”

Keith furrowed his brows. “So we have a bunch of horny and high citizens, what's the big deal?” Altea wasn't really big on drugs, there was some cocaine and heroin here and there, but it wasn't a huge issue. 

Pidge sighed. “You can't take more than one in twenty-four hours, because in the few hours you have, you get horrible hallucinations and it literally rots your brain and puts you in a vegetable state. They put it on the market last week and six people have already died, not including the one's in comas in the hospital as we speak.” 

He groaned, raking a hand through his hair. “You know, it's not really our job to stop drug cartels.”

“No, but we are a ‘gang’ and any trade Galra creates that interferes with ours,  _ is  _ our problem. And them killing off our consumer is a big problem.” Pidge stated, sounding bored. 

“We're an ironic gang. Bad guys trying to play good guys.” Keith muttered, crossing his arms as well. “Whatever, what does it look like.”

Pidge just snorted. “Pretty delicate for Galra, honestly. As I've seen, it's a little white pill with a pink flower print on it. I assume the  _ Juniberry _ is a  _ Juniberry Flower.”  _

“Got it, so Shiro,” Keith clapped his hands together and nodded once at his brother/leader. “What's the plan?”


	3. Pidge's Innocence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More of a filler chapter than anything, sorry.

Lance barely slept, he worried about his parents. He knew he should call, but what was he going to tell them? He didn’t know how long they would have to stay here. He’d have to make up something and he didn’t really like to lying to his mother. Plus, even if he wanted to call them, he couldn’t because his phone ‘wasn’t secured.’ In the end, he spent most of his night wallowing in paranoia about his parents, the situation  _ he  _ got him and his friends into, and(maybe), he also wondered how Keith managed to fit his ass in those tight jeans.

_ No, stop it Lance.  _ He needed to be more serious, this definitely wasn’t the time to be thinking about hitting on the hot guy who rescued him from a bunch of thugs. He should definitely be worried about  _ this  _ gang and what they were gonna do to them. Because when it came right down to it, they are still a gang. And gangs do illegal things, not that he knew what Shiro and Keith dabbled in, but he did know vaguely that Galra was more drug trade. Lance needed to be more concerned about his situation.

He sighed, throwing an arm over his face. Everything had happened so fast, now that it was finally processing, Lance was kind of...scared. If Galra actually cared about him and his friends, then they were in a hell lot of trouble, but if his ‘saviors’ were lying to them about keeping them safe; what were they actually planning? He couldn’t take it anymore, he got up from his bed and bolted from the room, heading to Allura’s. She always seemed to know how to calm him down when he was on the verge of an episode. 

Opening the door as quietly as possible, Lance rushed into the room and climbed into Allura’s bed. Startling the poor, half-sleep girl, who relaxed when she saw it was just Lance.

“Lance, what are you doing?” She brushed her fingers through his hair; he only did this kind of thing when he was over-thinking things.

“I don’t feel safe here. What if they want to hurt us?” He whispered, leaning into her touch.

“I think...if they were going to do something, they would have already done it.” She assured, remembering the kind look on the leader’s face as he introduced his brother and himself. He didn’t even seem all that angry at Lance and Keith when they’d been bickering, if anything, he looked just a little happy as he watched them.

“But now they know you’re the mayor’s daughter.” Lance sat up, looking at Allura through the darkness. “They’re still a gang Allura, and a gang’s called a  _ gang  _ for a reason. I don’t want to jump to conclusions but it’s hard not to.”

She understood where he was coming from, he was wary too. But she couldn’t help but trust these  _ Voltron  _ guys, just a little bit. No gang leader would be so gentle around “hostages” and his other gang members. Even if they did bad things, that didn’t give them the right to condemn them as bad people.

“We need to give them the benefit of doubt. They could be good people.” She said, then grinned. “Besides, you seemed to get along fine with Keith.”

Lance huffed. “ _ Keith.  _ Keith with his stupid mullet and condescending tone.”

Allura laughed. “Oh shut up, I saw you checking him out.”

She could just barely make out the blush on his face through the darkness. “N-no I wasn’t!” 

She giggled. “Sure, sure.” She swatted his arm. “Go sleep in your room, I don’t want to hear you when you dream about him.”

“You’re a pervert.” He grumbled, but nonetheless got up and left her room. She laid back down on her bed, thinking to herself about a certain kind leader with the awful scar across his face.

 

A soft pounding outside woke Lance from sleep, not that he had been sleeping very well in this foreign place anyway. Especially since his talk with Allura didn’t help and he still worried all night.

“Lance! Are you gonna get up at any point today?!” The vaguely familiar voice called to him. He groaned, but got out of bed anyway and exited his room. Keith was leaning beside his door with Allura and Hunk beside him, looking as miserable as Lance felt. And let’s be real, probably looked too. He didn’t have any of his face or hair products with him, so he imagined he looked rough.

Keith on the other hand, looked wide awake and if Lance had to admit it, sexy. Like the day before, he was wearing all black; a t-shirt and pants that hugged his body nicely. Lance internally scowled at him for being so hot in the morning.

Keith stood up straight and started walking, expecting the three to follow. “Okay, we took the liberty of going through bags and Pidge secured your phones so that while you stay here, you can contact your families.”

“Um yea, speaking of,” Hunk said, raising his hand halfway in the air. “When can I do that? I feel pretty bad and need to call them so they know I didn’t die.”

“Shiro, actually, wanted to talk to you guys about that. He said something about talking to your parents himself.” Keith shrugged, stopping at the elevator; pressing the up button and waited.

“What?” Lance said bewildered. “Look, we’re nineteen and twenty, all we need to do is call our parents and let them know that we didn’t die in or on our way home from practice last night. And I need to submit a short leave from school, he really doesn’t need to speak to them.”

Keith looked at Lance, brows furrowed. “You’re college students?”

“First year,” Hunk nodded, “I’m a full time student, but these two only go a few days a week.” 

The shorter male seemed slightly impressed. “Well, I guess that makes things a little easier. But Shiro will still want to talk to you guys about it.” The elevator dinged and Keith let them enter first. After pressing the number ‘12’ on the board, the doors shut and the elevator went up. The ride was quiet, if not a little awkward, due to the silence. Thankfully, there was no elevator music, Lance didn’t think he could handle that.

“Keith?” Allura asked softly, not looking at him, rather looking at the floor. “How long do you guys plan to keep us here?”

He glanced back at her, managing a reassuring smile. “Just until we know it’s safe for you to go home. We aren’t sure whether or not they’ll see you as a threat, since you are witnesses, but once we find out it’s okay to send you home, we will.”

Lance stared at Keith, understanding a little more of what Allura was saying to him last night. Looking from Hunk to Allura and noting how they visibly relaxed at Keith’s words made him settle down too. Watching Keith try to reassure Lance and his friends was enough for him to give these people the benefit of doubt.

 

Shiro raised a an amused eyebrow at the colored martial arts uniforms in two of the bags. Shay, who was like their ‘right-hand-man’(only a woman), held up the pink one with a disgusted expression. The blue one had already been laid out on the table, next to some items that had been in the bag along with it. There was nothing incriminating in any of the bags, besides in the one there was more junk food than anything else.

The elevator doors opened and Shiro smiled as the four of them entered the room, Keith immediately walked passed him to lean on the wall behind him. He sighed, Keith acted more like a second in command and less like a brother. He knew that Keith had kind of always been this way; obediently following orders from their father and Shiro himself, now that he was the leader. He had tried to convince his brother to go to college and try to make a different life for himself, but he’d argued that dad wouldn’t want him to leave Shiro alone. Shiro couldn’t find it in him to argue back and just let Keith do as he wished. He hardly ever ordered him to do anything, but instead just kind of left certain responsibilities to him. He suspected Keith knew what Shiro was doing, but he never said anything.

“Hey! That’s my stuff!” Hunk came over snatching the bag of chips out of Shay’s hands, which she had opened and was eating. His two other friends were laughing behind him, making their way to their bags, putting their things back inside.

Shay smirked. “Sharing is caring, you know.”

They were all a bit surprised when Hunk blushed slightly. “I don’t mind sharing as long as you ask.” Shay chuckled, but said nothing else on the subject.

“By the way, what’s up with the pink and blue uniforms?” Shay asked,  licking her fingers.

“They’re our practice uniforms, we practice karate.” Allura answered, packing hers away neatly as Lance just shoved his in his bag.

Shiro figured as much, but wasn’t any less impressed. Keith snickered behind him; Shiro glanced at him and was happy to see the jovial glint in his brother’s eyes. 

“Wait, you take karate and you still had my brother and I save you?” Shiro assumed the remark was more geared toward Lance, who looked less than pleased.

“In case you didn’t realize  _ mullet _ , I was in shock. It happens to the best of us.” Lance shrugged it off, looking high and mighty. 

Keith scoffed. “ _ The best of us,  _ he says. Hopefully, you don’t assume you’re one of the best? Because if so, the best are in sad shape.”

“You’re in sad shape.” Lance muttered, Keith rolled his eyes; opening his mouth to reiterate. Shiro stopped him.

“Enough for now, I have things I would like to discuss with our guests.” Shiro sat down at the center table, waiting patiently as everyone took their seats. “Pidge is on her way up with your phones, and I apologize in advance if she messed with them anyway that you’re not comfortable with. She’s...a handful.” He said, exasperated.

The three friends all shared a look of concern, but said nothing.

“Anyway, it is to my understanding that Galra does know who you are, well at least, they knew Allura. No offence, but you’re not hard to pick out from a crowd. But, that being so, you’re probably safer here than at home.” Shiro tried to ignore the sad looks on each of their faces. “The same goes for Lance and Hunk, they’re at as much of a risk as you, but I promise we’ll protect each of you to the best of our abilities.” He could tell they didn’t look convinced, but there wasn’t much more he could say. 

“So,” Lance started, looking anxious. “what if they try to involve our families?”

“That’s why I wanted to speak to them, explain the situation a little. I’m alright with your families hating me as long as nobody gets hurt.”

At this, the tall, slender boy snorted. “Keep dreaming, my mother will probably see you as a young,  _ misunderstood  _ hero.”

Hunk laughed along with him. “I bet you, she’ll smack you and try her best to defend Shiro. ”

“Yea, I can hear hear now. ‘ _ You be good to this man, hijo, he’s doing his best to keep you safe!’ _ ” Lance shook his head, a certain fondness on his face as he spoke about his mother.

Hunk chuckled. “That sounds exactly like your mom, only she’d yell more in Spanish.”

As much as Shiro enjoyed hearing about Lance’s mother’s antics, he knew he needed to speak up. “As amusing as this is, we need to get ready so we can get going as soon as possible. I’d like to leave ASAP.”

The door banged open, hitting the wall hard as Pidge stepped inside and yelled; “My innocence had been compromised!”

Shiro groaned, covering his face with his hand. “Why did I promise to look after you?”

Pidge scoffed, holding a hand to her chest in faux hurt. “Shiro, I’m surprised at you! I come in here, claiming that my  _ innocence  _ is  _ gone  _ and  _ this  _ is how you react? For shame!”

Shiro looked at her blankly. “What innocence? You are literally one of the most vulgar people I know. And whatever has happened to, “ _ compromise your innocence _ ,” I’m sure it was your fault.”

Pidge stuck her tongue out at him as she made her way to the three visitors. “All I did was go through their browser history.” She snickered, holding up each phone and listed the damning evidence she’d found. “Food porn,  _ gay  _ porn, and how to hide a puppy from your overbearing father.” She laughed to herself, “That last one was a legitimate word-for-word google search.”

Shiro’s eyes swept over the three, he pursed his lips. “Pidge, give them back their phones.”

“You don’t even want to know whose is whose?”

He sighed. “I’m sure you’ll tell us anyway.”

“Damn straight.” She walked over to the three, handing them their phones, but hesitated when handing Lance his, she grinned evilly. “You’re nasty.”

He scowled. “And you’re short.”

She shrugged. “I’m fifteen, what’s your excuse?”

“ _ Pidge _ .” 

She held up her hands in surrender, walking toward Keith, joining him against the wall. And who was also, snickering at the three’s expense.

Shiro sighed, running his hands down his face in irritation. It was only seven a.m. and he was already done with the day.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have set dates when I upload, I just do it when I manage to finish a chapter, but with how I'm feeling about this i should be updating in another few days or so.


	4. "Mi Pequeño Astronauta"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's really no reason why I haven't updated, other than I'm really fucking lazy. Like, I'd get in the mood to update aaaaaand then nope, inspiration gone. I would sit in front of the computer, stare at the screen for about five minutes, and then close it. So, I'm sorry for the long wait and being a lazy piece of shit, but oh well. It's here now and I'll probably update within the next week or so. Maybe before that, depends. But anyway, thanks for reading hope you aren't disappointed.

Allura stopped beside Shiro before he got into the vehicle they had ridden in the other night; grabbing his elbow, she said: “I need to speak with you before we go.”

He nodded and stepped away from the door in silence, waiting for her to speak. 

“I had to convince Lance to give you and your brother the benefit of doubt, I don’t want to regret it. I need your word that nothing will happen to Lance or Hunk, even myself. But I want them to be priority; they’re my family.” She demanded, her voice firm. She knew there was always a possibility of someone wanting to use her as leverage against her father, but she be damned if she allowed the same thing to happen to her friends  _ just because  _ they’re her friends. She refused, and she hoped that Shiro would understand this.

He stared at her and nodded once; “I’m going to protect you and your friends, you don’t have to worry.”

Allura hated to admit that hearing him say those simple words, put her at ease. She didn’t let it show and instead stiffened her stance. “I’ll hold you personally responsible if something does happen.”

“And you’ll have every right to.” He attempted to climb into the truck then, but she stopped him once more.

“One more thing; my father will have you arrested, he’s well aware of the gangs in the city and if you go in there to speak with him, he’ll call the police.” She said warily, a hint of foreboding in her voice.

Shiro just gave a small smile. “I don’t plan to actually speak with Mayor Alfor, I have an old friend on the inside who will be able to relay my message.”

Allura just accepted it and finally entered the truck with the rest of them.

 

Lance let out a loud sigh as he waited patiently in the car with Keith and Allura. Hunk and Shiro had went inside Hunk’s home and had already been in there for twenty minutes.

“Isn’t it a little strange that Shiro wanted to talk to our families face-to-face? Like, is that a normal thing?” Lance asked suddenly, the silence starting to get to him.

Keith answered immediately. “It’s more like incentive. Like if he talks with them and sees how much they mean to each other he’s more determined to keep that person and their loved ones safe. Because he then knows to the extent the people that person  _ has  _ to go back to.”

He pondered. “What happens if he can’t protect them?”

“He goes to the family and tells them, taking all the blame.” The shorter boy muttered, looking out the window so Lance couldn’t see his face. “It’s only happened twice before, each time it tore him apart.”

Allura spoke this time. “But him coming to our houses, isn’t that like a giant target on the family?”

Keith shook his head. “No, typically it’s better for him to show his face like this. Because now if Galra decides to use your families as leverage, we won’t hold back. And to be honest, Shiro isn’t known to be merciful in these situations.” 

Lance didn’t know what to say to that, but he was a tad bit frightened upon hearing it. But it also showed the kind of person he was, and Lance could come to respect a man like Shiro.

“How long have you two been doing this?” Lance asked, putting his head in between the passenger and driver’s seats; getting in Keith’s face.

The shorter man flinched, glaring at Lance. “A couple years; since our father stepped down.”

“Ahh, the family business huh?” Lance teased, attempting an elbow jab but was restricted by the seat.

“Lance, shut the hell up.”

He grinned, realizing he was getting under Keith's skin. “What? Don't wanna have some captor-prisoner-bonding time?”

“Seriously, the sound of your voice is so horribly grating I might kill you if Galra doesn’t.” Keith growled, covering his ears with his hands. Allura snorted beside Lance. 

“Oo kinky. Don't tease, you might Stockholm Syndrome me.” Lance waved his hand in front of his face like he was warm, but grinned all the same.

“I'll kill myself if that happens.” He muttered.

“Oh then you should start planning your own funeral because I'm already falling.” Lance cooed, winking. 

Allura lost it, she was laughing/crying beside Lance, trying to speak. “Holy shit, this is great. You can be totally suave with Keith but as soon as you try to flirt with a girl-” She snorted, covering her mouth. “Keith, you lucky bastard.” The way she said it seemed sarcastic to Lance. He's sure it was. 

Keith smirked in the front. “Good to know, thanks Allura.”

“What the fuuuuuck, Allura! Don't give the enemy valuable intel!!” Lance cried dramatically waving his hands as high as the truck roof allowed.

“Valuable indeed,”

“Shut it Keith.” 

“Oh stop it Lance, there's so much I could tell him about you and he'd have enough ammunition for a lifetime.” She teased. 

Lance frowned. “It's official, you're the worst friend ever.” She didn’t get the chance to respond, because at that moment a gentle rapping sounded on the window. Lance perked up upon seeing the short, Samoan woman grinning through the glass. “Mama Hunk!” He opened the door, flinging himself at her. She chuckled, hugging the eccentric boy back.

“Nice to see you too, Lance. Are you behaving?” She smiled, giving him a knowing look.

He waved her off. “Of course! You know what a delight I am! Tell her Keith!”

The other boy simply said; “You’re intolerable.”

Lance rolled his eyes. “Don’t listen to him Mama Hunk, he’s actually crazy about me.”

“You call her ‘Mama Hunk’?” Allura raised a brow.

“I prefer Talia, but Lance always said Mama Hunk sounds better.” She shrugged, hugging the boy again, with her actual son pouting beside her.

“Mom, you love Lance more than me.” He pretended to cry.

“Sometimes.” Everyone chuckled at that.

“Well, thank you for your time Talia, and I hope we meet again on a better note.” Shiro said softly, smiling generously. 

“As do I, Shiro. And thank you.” Shiro nodded and gestured to the car.

“We need to get going if we’re gonna get through everything today.” He stepped in as Hunk was hugging his mother goodbye and as Lance pretended to hold onto her for dear life.

“ _ Lance.” _ After being scolded, Lance got back into the car, pushing Hunk’s travel bag out of his seat and they left.

Lance’s house was only a couple blocks from his friend’s; when they were younger they would wait and walk to school together.since hunk lived closer to the school, they would usually meet up at his house.

As they pulled up to Lance’s two story house, he relaxed. Seeing the blue house with white shutters, settled a certain peace inside him. He always felt better when he was home. Before the car was even fully stopped, Lance hopped out and bolted up the steps, Shiro trailing behind him looking amused.

“So, my mother can be a little overbearing, but it will probably be funny more than anything because she’s Cuban.” Lance explained, opening the front door. “Mama!    
¡ _ Estoy en casa _ !”

The sound of running feet had Lance on alert as a small child bombarded his legs from behind. “Lance!” A little boy, who looked a lot like a small version of Lance himself, grinned. He was missing one of his front teeth and made a show as to tick his tongue through the hole.

Lance smiled, then picked the small boy up. “Manny! Your tooth!”

“It fell out last night, after Maddi hit me in the head with her barbie.” Manny hugged Lance, kicking his feet lightly. “Where were you? Mama was worried.”   

Lance patted his cheek. “We’ll talk about it another time, where is Mama?”

“In the garden.” Lance set his brother down and smiled up at Shiro.

“I’ll be right back, Manny, keep Shiro company.” Manny looked up at Shiro, tilting his head to the side. Lance left them to head outside to the patio where his mother was pulling vegetables out of the garden. “Mama?”

Her head jerked up and she gasped in fright. “Lance! You’re alright!” She stands up, pulling her so into her small body. She was significantly shorter than her son, her head resting on his chest. “ _ Mi pequeño astronauta, estaba muy preocupado. _ ”

“ _ Lo siento,  _ Mama.  _ Pero hay alguien aquí para explicar _ .” Lance’s mother gave him a strange look, but nonetheless followed him inside. In the house, Shiro was grinning at the young Manny who, to Lance’s and his mother’s surprise, was perched on the leader’s hip. “Mama, this is Shiro. Shiro, this is my mother, Benita McClain.”

Shiro set Manny down and smiled, charmingly, causing Benita to blush slightly. “Hello Mrs. McClain, it’s nice to meet you.”

“And you, Shiro.” She frowned, lifting her hand; she placed it on Lance’s arm. “Now, can you tell me where my hijo was last night?”  
“He was with me, I’m sorry, but it seems _my work_ caused him some trouble and now I’m trying to keep him and his friends safe.” he explained vaguely, Lance wondered how much he was willing to say.

“Your work? What kind of work?” Lance could hear the fear in his mother’s tone, he knew she knew this wasn’t anything good.

“There was an altercation between my group and another group. Lance and his friends happened to be walking by at the wrong time and they used him to get me to cooperate. And because Lance was a witness, I’m afraid he isn’t safe. I’m really sorry, Mrs. McClain. I wish for you to allow me to take full responsibility for the welfare of your son and your family.” Shiro bowed his head toward the end; low enough that Lance’s short mother could lay a hand upon him, which she did. 

She patted his head gently. “ _ Gracias _ Shiro,” her gentle smile startled the leader. Lance wondered what type of reaction he expected. 

“If it’s not too much trouble, I would like Lance to stay with me and my brother for a while, until I know he is safe. And I recommend you go stay with relatives as well. For your safety. If it is too far, I will pay for the trip here and back.” He offered, her eyes widened as she started mumbling praises in Spanish. 

“Geez Shiro, break my mother why don’t you.” Lance chuckled, listening to his flustered mother praise Shiro as ‘an actual angel sent from heaven above.’

“Did I say something wrong?” He furrowed his brows.

“On the contrary, my mother has family back in Cuba she hasn’t seen in person since I was a kid. The closest family we have is my dad’s a few states over, considering he’s out of country at the moment…” Shiro didn’t say anything in response to what Lance said, not even indicating he heard him. “She’s happy.”

“How many am I sending?”

Lance shrugged. “That’s up to mom,”

Benita finally brought her attention back to the boys. “ _ Te bendigo _ , Shiro, such a good  _ niño. _ ” she hugged him, tears forming in her eyes. Lance smirked at the astonished look on Shiro’s face.

“Hunk and I said this would happen.”

“Lance go pack a bag of your things, while I talk to your mother.” With a mock salute, Lance obeyed the order and marched up to his room; Manny following behind him.

“Why is Mama crying?”

Lance smiled down at him. “She's just happy.” 

Lance was like a tornado around his room; ripping clothes from drawers, collecting random knick knacks and books, and shoving them all into a small travel suitcase. Double checking that his lucky jacket was packed before he grabbed anything else. He probably put a few things in there he didn’t necessarily  _ need _ , but couldn’t bring himself not to just toss them in. For examples, the four extra phone chargers he’s never even opened. Manny had given him a look as he tried to hide a bottle of lotion and some condoms in the front pouch. Who knew, maybe Lance would get lucky. Or, more than likely, use the lotion for something and spend the next day convincing himself he wasn’t desperate or lonely. (Only to be lying to himself and knowing it).

“How long will you be gone?” Manny fiddled with his thumbs, looking sad. Lance sighed, sitting beside him.

“I don’t know, but I promise not to be gone too long. Everything will be better before you know it.” Lance’s hand rested upon his brother’s shoulder. “Don’t worry too much, just do as Mama says and everything will be fine.”

Manny nodded vigorously, causing Lance to chuckle. Manny was the youngest of his siblings, only four years old. His oldest sibling was now twenty six, with another older sibling and then two younger siblings, Lance was the middle child. And that pretty much explained anything anyone needed to know about Lance. “Come on  _ hermano _ ,” he patted Manny’s head. “Let’s go back down there and make sure Mama hasn’t tried to suffocate Shiro with her overbearingness.” 

He knew Manny didn’t quite understand what he meant, but the kid nodded anyway and followed his brother back downstairs.

“I’ll have everything ready for you and your family to leave tomorrow afternoon.” Shiro’s deep voice said, there was authority and kindness in his tone, per usual. Lance didn’t know how he managed it.

“Shiro,  _ por favor,  _ take care of my boy,” Her voice was shaky and eyes watering. His mother didn’t often cry, so whatever Shiro said to her couldn’t have been good. Lance bopped into the living room, smiling widely at them. 

“You ready?” he asked the leader, who nodded and gestured to Benita. 

“Say goodbye, I’ll be in the car.” He headed out, leaving Lance behind with his weeping mother. Lance smiled at her gently.

“Mama, it’s alright, everything will be okay.” 

She sniffed, grabbing Lance’s face in her little hands. “You be good,  _ comportarse usted mismo, no causan demasiados problemas para ese buen hombre.”  _ She smiled sadly. “I will miss you,  _ mi pequeño astronauta.” _

“ _ Sí _ Mama.  _ Te amo.”  _ Lance hugged her, closing his eye as she murmured  _ te amo,  _ back over and over.

Everyone felt the melancholy as Lance got into the car, it showed plainly on his face. He’d been trying to not to let the gravity of the situation bring him down, but the thought of Shiro sending his family to Cuba to protect them...maybe this was getting to be too much for Lance. He barely listened as Shiro told Allura he had someone pack some of her belongings and they were just going to bring them to a secured location, instead of doing what he did for Hunk and Lance. Lance stared out the window, not paying attention, feeling responsible for all of this.

 

Keith waited patiently in the car with the two friends; Shiro and Allura meeting up in the crowded restaurant with their long time friend, Coran. He had once been a part of Voltron, when Keith’s father had been the leader. But when he passed it on to Shiro, he’d appointed Keith as his second and Coran took that as a sign he was able to get out. So he went to work for Mayor Alfor. Keith knew that coran did this so if anything happened to him or his brother, Coran had the power to get them out of it, or so he was able to do  _ something _ . Keith admired that, they didn’t have a lot of friends or contacts outside of the gang.

“How did Manny take it?” Hunk spoke up, Keith assumed he was speaking to Lance. If not, who the fuck was Manny?

Looking in the rear view mirror, Keith saw the sad smile on the annoying guy’s face. “He’ll be okay, I don’t think he really understands. Mom was hysterical, loved Shiro though.”

Hunk chuckled. “Knew it, your mom loves everyone.”

“She loved him even more when she found out she was going to Cuba.”

Keith furrowed his brows and spoke without really meaning to. “Cuba?”

“Yea, my mother’s family is Cuban.” Lance smirked a little. “Does me being Cuban turn your crank or something? Because I do speak Spanish, just so you know.” He winked, Keith huffed and went silent once again. Why did he even bother? He felt stupid for being slightly worried when Lance got into the truck all depressed. So far he’d only seen two sides of Lance, both of which he liked a lot better than depressed Lance. It just didn’t suit him; but seeing that he’s fine now, Keith stayed quiet.

 

Allura was stunned to see Coran sitting across from her and Shiro. She’d wanted to get up and hug him, but he gave her a look that meant not to move. She also noticed the bag of hers he carried in; Coran is working with Voltron?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I'll probably put up translations another time, but I don't think these are too hard to figure out).


	5. 4:02am

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for always making you wait, I know it usually takes me awhile, plus this chapter's short(I'm just an absolute mess). I didn't have an actual name for the chapter, so I just put down when I finished it. Don't be sad if the chapter's sucky

She didn’t know what to say; Allura just stared as Coran and Shiro exchanged greetings and made small talk. She stared at the ginger man who had been like an uncle to her; a crazy, yet wonderful uncle. She was perplexed, how did Coran know Shiro?  
“...lura? Allura?” Coran’s gentle voice cut into her thoughts; she let out a deep breath.  
“Can someone explain this to me?” Her tone was quiet, scared.  
He smiled at her, the same smile he always showed her when she amused him. She frowned, she wasn’t amused. “I know it’s sudden, but I never thought you would be in this situation.”  
“How are you in this situation?” She cried in disbelief. Coran was probably one of the most passive people she knew, him being involved with a gang...it was unbelieveable.  
“I know this must be alarming for you, but we don’t have time to tell stories. Keith and the others are sitting defenseless in the truck. We need to hurry.” Shiro said, leaving no room for arguments.  
Allura frowned. “I’m sure Keith can handle if something happens.”  
“It’s not Keith I’m worried about. So, say what needs to be said and let’s get out of here.” Shiro seemed anxious, Allura could only assume they’d been gone longer than he wanted to be.  
She turned her attention back to Coran. “You will explain this to me, right?”  
He sighed. “You don’t have the time today, but I will. We’ll see each other soon. I packed all your essentials and had Beth pack your clothes and such. I know you wouldn’t want me going through your things.”  
Allura smiled a little, she didn’t actually mind, but Coran still saw her as a little girl. He probably had Beth, the maid, do it so he could keep that image of her. She sighed as well, defeated. “What did you tell my father?”  
“That you’re going on a trip with the karate class. I’ve already informed your instructor of it and he’s willing to help us out.” Allura had so many questions that they didn’t have time for, so instead she nodded.  
“I hate to cut this short, but we need to get going.” Shiro stood, grabbing Allura’s bag from the ground. She offered to take it, but he wouldn’t allow her. He turned to Coran. “Thank you for your help, I’ll keep her safe.”  
“I know you will.”  
Allura stood as well, smiling sadly at the older man. “Thank you Coran, I’ll call you as often as I can.”  
He grinned. “Don’t worry about that, I know where to find you.”

Lance perked up when he saw Allura and Shiro heading back to the truck. Allura didn’t seem happy at all, but Shiro’s look is what alarmed Lance. He seemed distracted, yet alert; something wasn’t right. He ushered Allura into the vehicle, scanning around them.  
“We need to leave. Right now.” He shut the door just as a loud bang sounded around them. Glass shattered from the passenger’s side window; a cry of pain followed. Lance immediately ducked, pulling Allura and Hunk down with him. His heart began to pound, his hands shaking and palms sweating.  
“Are we being shot at?! Please tell me we’re not being shot at!” Hunk mumble-yelled into his lap. He was ignored as the truck started and lurched forward. Lance dared a glance up, he could barely make out the scenery around them. He released his friends, allowing them up, that’s when he noticed Shiro doubled over, holding onto his arm. Blood coated his hand and rushed down his arm at a distressing rate.  
“Shiro! Your arm!” he cried, forcing Shiro to sit up.  
“Oh my god!” Allura flinched back at the sight, covering her mouth.  
Lance had Hunk recline Shiro’s seat onto his friend’s lap as he ripped off a piece of his shirt and handed it to Hunk. “Wrap that above his wound.”  
Hunk was doing as he was told, then stopped. “Lance…” He almost snapped at Hunk, until he saw the reason his friend hesitated. The wound in Shiro’s arm went straight through the middle of his upper arm. The hole was big enough to fit Lance’s finger through, leaving some room around. The bullet had went right through and into the seat.  
“How bad is it?” Keith’s normally calm tone was replaced by a frantic one.  
“I’m fine Keith, just get us home. Slav and Pidge can fix this.” Shiro said through clenched teeth, trying to hold back the fact he was in pain.  
“You’re not fine! Lance, grab his phone and call Shay, have her and the doc ready when we get in.” Keith snapped, making a rather sharp turn. Lance did as he was told, after Shiro told him where his phone was. (It was a tad bit awkward considering it was his back pocket, but Lance had to push that aside and just grab it). With shaking hands, he finds Shay’s name and hits the contact. The phone barely rings once.  
“What’s up Shiro?” The casual tone of Shay makes Lance a little frantic.  
“Shay! Shiro’s been shot! And it’s pretty bad, we’re on our way in and need you guys to come get him when-”  
“Got it. I’ll get everyone ready. How far are you?”  
“I-I don’t know, not far I don’t think-”  
“Just get him here fast.” She hung up before Lance could say anything more.  
The next ten minutes were hell, the quickly arrived and Shay and the others came out immediately to grab Shiro. Hurrying him inside, Keith followed them; frantically asking what he could do.  
“Keith, calm down. We got this. Go to the training room or something. You’re no good to us when you’re upset like this.” Shay patted his cheek, stalling the poor guy in his place. She left, following after everyone who took Shiro.  
Lance walked up to Keith, hesitantly placing a hand on his shoulder. He didn’t acknowledge or shake him off, so Lance figured he was too shocked to do anything. Glancing back at Allura he gestured for her and Hunk to go after Shiro. He needed to know what would happen with him, but felt that Keith didn’t need to be alone right now. Allura understood, grabbed Hunk’s arm and pulled him out of the entrance hall.  
“I need to hit something.” Keith muttered, clenching his fists.  
“Wanna hit me?” Lance offered.  
Keith gave him a side glance. “A little bit.”  
“Go ahead.” Lance said as he lifted his arms as a sign for Keith to do it. Slightly stunned, the black haired boy frowned.  
“I’m not actually gonna hit you Lance, that’s dumb.”  
He lowered his arms. “Where’s that training room Shay was talking about? I think it may be of some use right about now.”  
“Are-are you coming with me?” Keith asked, brows furrowed. Lance nodded, smiling in reassurance. He knew that Keith didn’t really want to be alone. So Keith lead the way, checking every so often to make sure Lance was still behind him; because for once, Lance wasn’t making a sound.  
Lance inspected everything and everyone he saw on the way there, most of the members gave Keith a respectful nod and others ignored his presence. He noticed that Keith nodded to every single person.  
“Why are they ignoring you?” Lance finally asked after the fourth or fifth person.  
Keith looked at him over his shoulder briefly. “Some of them don’t like me,”  
“Why?” He pressed, Keith sighed.  
“Because I’m good at what I do, but not better than Shiro. Also, I tend to be a bit of a hothead.” The fact that Keith could admit he was a little hotheaded made him more likeable to Lance. Then again, Lance wasn’t competing or having to work under Keith.  
“You don’t have to keep me company. I don’t need your pity.” He snapped suddenly, his cheeks slightly red. Lance noticed that he wasn’t exactly angry, but more embarrassed; he couldn’t help but find it oddly endearing.  
“I’m not pitying you,” he smirked. “I actually just want to see your expression when I kick your ass at sparring.” Keith scoffed, more playful than anything. Lance was happy he could take his mind off his brother, even if for a few minutes. (And possibly the expense of his pride). It was worth it.  
They came upon large, metal double doors, that opened when Keith punched in a short code. “Not everyone has access, they have to be accompanied by someone with the code.” he explained briefly. Lance assumed there was a reason behind this, and it wasn’t really his place to ask. They stepped inside, and what Lance saw wasn’t what he was expecting. To be honest, he wasn’t sure exactly what he was expecting, but rubber matted concrete floors and padded walls weren’t it. The floor was covered in the same material that most gyms used; so the sweat is easy to clean up, then there were mats lining the walls. They were only four or five feet tall, three feet wide and old and worn. Lance assumed they were well used to train and such.  
“Do you guys practice hand-to-hand combat a lot?” He asked, noticing a few blood stains on the mats; cringing slightly.  
“Yes and no, there are typically weapons involved; knives and blank guns. We practice how to disarm, more or less.” Keith answered, walking towards one of the doors towards the back of the room. Lance didn’t follow him the whole way, he was starting to feel nervous about sparring Keith. He wanted to help; help keep his mind off his brother for a while, but not at his own expense. He was only a brown belt for christ’s sake, Keith had like street cred or something.  
Keith came back, pulling two large mats, throwing them down in the center of the floor. “What are you doing?” Lance quirked an eyebrow.  
The black haired boy set the mats out, shrugging. “I’ve had my fair share of concussions from these floors, so if you want to fight, I recommend staying on the mat.”


	6. not a chapter

Sorry, this isn't a chapter. I tend to flake or take a long time with my chapter updates and I'm sorry about that. They're just slow coming sometimes and I seem to always run into an obstacle. So, here's what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna take some time and write a few chapters, then update them all at once. It might take a little time, but I hope it's worth it for you guys. Also, thank you guys so much for reading and leaving comments, and kudos, it really means a lot to me. It reminds me that people actually read my works and that I need to update, so thank you so so much. 

Anyway, I thought I'd forewarn you guys about my sloth-like slowness. sorry

(I'll try to write them as quick as I can, granted my laptop decides to cooperate, it's a little temperamental).

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is! It's a little short, hopefully other chapters will be longer. Let me know what you think.  
> **Also, I would like you to know that I don't know anything about karate, but I thought it would be a rather good thing for the three of them to know so they weren't totally helpless.** If you have an intelligence regarding it I would love to hear from you!


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